Pivoted means for directing drying gas into the interior of hollow articles



2,416,759 PIVOTED MEANS FOR DIREGTING DRYING GAS INTO THE March 4, 1947. H. D. LATHROP INTERIOR OF HOLLOW ARTICLES Filed Sept. 11, 1943 Patented Mar. 4, 1947 1,

I 2,416,759 r I rivo'rnn MEANS FORJDIRECTING DRYING GAS INTO ARTICLES THE INTERIOR OFj HOLLOW 7 Harry D. Lathrop, Chicago, -Ill., assignor to The Lathrop-Paulson Company, Chicago, Ill., .a-core poration'of Illinois Application September 11, 1943, Serial No. 501,948

.3 Claims. (!..34-4'05) This invention relates to an air jet and the like, and more particularly to a device for discharging air or other gas into the interior of a can as the canv is advanced in can washing apparatus.

An object of the invention is to provide an air jet for discharging air into the interiorof a can to dry the surface of the can as the can is automatically advanced through can washing apparatus and equipment. Another object is to provide a, discharge tube for passing air into the interior of the can which isautomatically moved into and from the interior of the can as the can is ad'- vanced along a predetermined path in the can washing apparatus. Still anotherobject is to provide in can washing equipment, an air jet which is automatically raised and lowered as a can is passed in inverted position through the equipment so that air or other drying'medium may be discharged upwardly into the interior of the can to dry the same without interfering with the movement of the can through theapparatus. A further object is to provide a pivotally or swingably mounted'casing, together with a counterweight which balances the casing and disposes the casing in the path of a can in the can washing apparatusso that the casing-is engaged by the. can passing therethrough to swing the casing downwardly out of the path of the can and, in combination, a conduit for introducing air or other drying medium into the discharge casing.

Other features andadvantages will appear from the specification and drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly broken away, showing a can supported in the washing apparatus and the jet in position to discharge the drying medium into the interior of the can; Fig; 2 is a perspective view'of the discharge jet; and Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, showing the discharge jet mounted upon the air conduit which communicates therewith.

The present invention contemplates an automatically-operated discharge tube or jet which is, in effect, self-rising in that it is swung into the interior of the mouth and neck of a can when the can in the can washing apparatus passes over the discharge tube. The discharge tube or jet thus does not interfere with the 5o but at the: same time provides'eneetive' introduction of air or other drying medium into the movement of the, can through the apparatus,

interiorof the can. In this manner, cans-which have been washed in the equipment are, readily dried by theflow of air therethrough.

In the embodim'entof the invention described herein, a can In having a neck I I and a wide open mouth [2 is supported in inverted position upon a chain l3 or other suitable trackwhich provides a predetermined path for the passage of the can through the canwashingequipment. A dog or lug engages the rim 15. of the mouth of the can so as to move the'can along the predeter-" mined path within the washing equipment.

The can washing equipment or apparatus may" be of any suitable or conventional type and theportions shown are intended to illustrate a: portion of such apparatus in which a canis automatically advanced step by step through the: can washing apparatus. Instead of the chain l3. any suitable type of track may be used to support the can! in inverted position.

A tubular casing Hiis pivotally supported by the pivot pin I! at the lower portion thereof, a

mounting being disposed below thepath for the movement of the can above the chain or track 13. The casing it may be of any suitable shape or construction and may be circular or polygonal" in cross section as Well as in the shape illustrated. The casing should, however, be tubular in order to provide a. passage for the drying medium.

which may extend into thecan .l0.

'As seen particularly in Fig. 2, the discharge. casing It may be provided with a counterweight I I8 extending downwardly. below the portion of the casing at which the casing is pivotallyvsup:

ported] The counterweightmay be secured to the wall I19 of the casing byattachment ofthe. extension 20 of the counterweight to such wall.

Theopposed side walls 2| and 22 ofthe casing may be equipped with registering apertures 23 and 24 through which the pivot pins I! are passed in mounting the casing. The wall 25 of the casing I6 is preferably cut away at the lower portion thereof so as to permit the casing to be'swung downwardly about its pivot without engagement.

with the air conduit 26 which communicates with the lower portion of the casing} 'The swingab1e or pivotal movement of the casing is illustrated in Fig. 3in which the casing isshown in dotted lines' in lbwerposition.

Any suitable means (not shown) may be. used for supporting the' pivot pins l1 upon'which' the casing in turn is supported. I! desired, a bracket ll may be clamped uponv the upper end of conduit pipe 26 and have an extension for-receiving the pivot pin II, as shown in Fig; 3..

i The. casing I6 is preferably taperedslightly inwardly toward the upper or discharge endgthere- TENT OFFICE...

length of the casing should be suflicient to permit the casing to extend upwardly, when in vertical position, into the "interior of the can, prefer ably as shown to a portion of thecan at" or slightly beyond the neck thereof. With this construction and arrangement, ample space is provided about the outer periphery of the casing to permit airwhich is being discharged from the can to move downwardly and outwardly between the {neck and mouth of the can and the casing therein. This provides for a free circulation of air or other drying medium in that the air is discharged upwardly at relatively high velocity into the central portion of the canand flows downwardly along the walls thereof and out through the neck and mouth of the can about the outside of the casing. I V

"Preferably, the air conduit 26 which 'communi cateswith the lower portion of the casing is of cross" section dimensionssomewhat smaller than the casing and'extends upwardly into the casing s'o-that the-lower portions of the walls of the casing overlap the air conduit 26.

l2n' operation;the'discharge jet or casin l6 swings about a horizontal axis provided by the pivot l1 so that the casing 16 moves in a vertical plane pas'singth'rough the path along which the can ismoved. Thus, the casing moves forwardly and rearwardly alon'g'the path of the can as it move upwardly and downwardly to and from discharge position. In upper or vertical position; thecas'ing extends upwardly into the open mouth and'neckof the can, and the air which may be passed at high velocity from the air conduitf 261.130 the casing I6 is introduced into the central portion of the can. The air flows up wardlyiinto the central portion of the can and downwardly along the walls of the can and downwardly and outwardly from the can through the portions of the neck and mouth about the outsideofthe casing. r

I n lower or substantially horizontal position, a indicated-in dotted linesin Fig. 3, the casing has" been swungdownwardly out of the path of thecanso that thee-an maymove freely through the. washing apparatus without interference 'byi the'ca'singQ :As the can is automatically advanced along the path providedby the chain or track I3 and in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig, 1, itappreaches the casing Hi and the forward edge of the rim l5 engages the rear wall l9 of the casing; 'The casing is swung forwardly and downwardly about the pivots I1 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The forward side of the mouth ['2' and neck ll of the can Ill then passes over the casing and the casing swings upwardly'to the position shown" in Fig. 1 within the-mouth and neck of the can. Air is discharged upwardly into the can until the can is dried. The can is then again advanced in the direction of the arrow inFig. Land the rear wall'of the neck H. and. mouth 12 of the can engages the wall IQ of thecasing to swing'thecasing forwardlyand dbwnwardly to permit the .can to pass thereover.

I he operation is repeated with the ,next can passinggthrough theqapparatus; V desired,'the counterweight l8 may be almost eyenlybalanced with the portion ofthecasing l6 -same time, this cutaway portion permits the swingable movement of the casing.

Although air will. normally be used, any suitable gaseous medium may be passed through the discharge jet or casing. If desired, the air may be heated so a to fincrease its effectiveness as a drying medium.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a-spec-ific embodiment, it will be apparentthat many modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

-Iclaim:

l. In apparatus for: drying cans wherein a can in inverted position is advanced along a predetermined path, a device for-discharging a gaseous medium into the interior of the can comprising a tubular casing, a horizontally-disposed pivot below said path for supportingthe casing atthe' lowerportionthereofior pivotal movement about a horizontal axis, means for supporting the pivot; counterweight means carried by said casing -ex-- tending downwardly below said pivot to at least balance the weight of the portion of the casing above said pivot, a conduit having an outlet opening extending upwardly into the lower end ofthe casing for introducing a gaseous medium into the casing under relatively high velocity, said casing being swingable about said pivot between upper' er than the cross section dimensions of the outlet of the conduit and the'casing forming in upper position a continuation of the conduit, said casing being cut away at one wall to permit'the casing toswing downwardly to lower position withoutinterference from said conduit; the casing being moved from upper position to lower position' by engagement with the advancing 'can an'cl' being moved from lower position to upper position by above the pivots l'l. In this case, the casing l6 is- -sw ing upwardly to vertic z'il position by; the

combined effect: of. theacounter'weighml 3 and the" the counterweight and the upward pressure 'exerted on the upper portion of the casing and'by the gaseous medium in'said conduit when the casing is in lower position. 2. In apparatus for drying cans wherein a can medium into the interior of the can'comprising' a tubularcasing, a conduit having 'an'outlet.ad'-' jacent said tubularcasing for discharging'a gaseous medium into said tubular as'ing, mea'nsdis posed below said path for supporting said casing at the lower-portion thereof for pivotal movement about a horizontal" axis, counterweight "means carried by said casing'extending' downwardly'b'e 'ii low said supporting means to at least balance the weight of the portionof the casing above"s'ai'd supporting means; said outlet fcomnmnicat g with the interior of said" casing; saidfcas'ing'be swingable' between'supper position wher'ei'n th 5 casing extendsupwardly:into the interiorjo can disposed thereabove in, said-predetermihe path and gaseous medium flows upwardly through said outlet and said casing into the can and lower position wherein the casing is withdrawn from the interior of the can and extends across said outlet to substantially close the same, the gaseous medium in said outlet exerting an upward pressure on the upper portion of the casing when the casing is in lower position, said casing being moved from upper position to lower position by engagement with the advancing can.

3. In apparatus for drying cans wherein a can in invertedposition is advanced along a predetermined path, a device for discharging a gaseous medium into the interior of the can comprising a tubular casing, a conduit having an outlet adjacent said tubular casing for discharging a casing being swingable' between upper position wherein the casing extends upwardly into the interior of a can disposed thereabove in said predetermined path and wherein the casing forms a continuation of said outlet whereby the gaseous mediumflows upwardly through said outlet and casing into the interior of the can and lower position wherein the casing is withdrawn from the interior of the can and extends across said outlet to substantially close the same and wherein the gaseous medium in the outlet exerts an upward pressure on the upper portion of the casing, said casing being moved from uppervposition to lower position by engagement with the advancing can and having a wall cut away to permit the casing to swing downwardly to lower position without outlet. HARRY D. LATHROP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS interference from said Number Name Date 2,283,679 Lathrop May 19, 1942 2,313,040 Alling et a1. Mar. 9, 1943 2,198,898 Winters Apr. 30, 1940 1,608,634 Taylor Nov. 30, 1926 

